Well I just checked out the Parson’s Place Stables website and she had new photos of Fender up. He is still really tiny! I just love these pictures! Erik and I are going to go visit him again next week. I can’t wait. He will be five weeks old this Friday!
Wikipedia had some interesting facts about the coloring of the Australian Shepherds. They can be four different colors:
Black, Red (sometimes Liver), Blue Merle (marbled black and gray), and Red Merle (marbled red and silver or buff.) Each of these colors may also have copper points and/or white markings in various combinations on the face, chest, and legs.
Kathy told me that a full white collar on the Australian Shepherds is desired and when the puppies have the full white collar they tend to be more expensive. Fender is a Red Merle and has a partial white collar and it is really cute! I love when the Aussies get older because their collar tends to get thick and fluffy, kind of like a lion’s mane!
All black and blue merle dogs have black noses, eye rims, and lips. All red and red merle dogs have liver or brown noses, eye rims, and lips. But right now the little guy’s nose is cute and pink!
Aussie’s are also known for their beautiful eyes! An early nickname for the dog was “ghost-eye dog.” Aussie’s eyes can be blue, brown, hazel, green, or amber. Sometimes they can even have two different colored eyes. Kathy has one female with one blue eye and one brown eye. It looks really cool! Erik wants Fender to have two different colored eyes.
I hope he has blue eyes. Sometime the merles will even have “split eyes” (like a half-brown, half-blue eye) and merled eyes can occur too! The merled eyes one color mixed and swirled with another. Wikipedia says that, any combination of eye color is acceptable in the breed standard, so long as the eyes are healthy. In general, however, black Aussies (self, bi-color or tri-color) tend to have brown eyes, while red (self, bi-color or tri-color) Aussies tend to have amber eyes, though these Aussies may also carry the blue eyed gene. Aussie’s eyes start changing colors at about 6 weeks. So we should know what color eyes Fender will have soon! I can’t wait.
Filed under: Animals, Family | Tagged: mini australian shepherds, Miniature Australian Shepherds eye color
It’s about time I understood what “merle” meant. Haha. I was definitely between a blue and red merle, but I am glad we picked out Fender. I still do hope he has one blue and one brown eye, but blue eyes are sweet too. Either way, Fender is gonna be a beautiful pup!